Volume 2: The Six Relations (Liu Qin Lun) · Chapter 53
The Combining Structure (He Ju)
Attributed to Jing Tu (Song); commentary tradition by Liu Bowen (Ming)
Modern Digest & Life Relevance
Not every combination is good
Combinations are usually treated as helpful — they bind and harmonise. The chapter sets two limits: whether a given combination suits this chart at all, and how many of them there are. When combinations pile up, their binding power becomes the problem: everything holds onto everything else and nothing can move, so a chart full of harmony produces nothing remarkable. Read combination as a commitment, not an asset.
Key Concepts:Three Harmonies (San He)